Some Dexter Info

[Marshall]

I'm trying to locate a Dexter breeder in South/Central Florida. I'm very interested in the breed and have started researching. My family has owned cattle all my life and I have never seen a Dexter and are curious why they're not popular around here. Anyone with info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

This website has breeders listed. You can contact them and see if anyone has some for sale.

http://www.dextercattle.org/


http://dakodan.net/dexters/index.php This site is a bulletin board for dexters. You will find some for sale on this site too.

 

[dun]

No info, but I think the reason you don't see them around is because of their "niche" status. The folks that have them are fiercly loyal to them. But for most purposes, they're over priced and too small to be an economic alternative for beef production.

dun

I'm trying to locate a Dexter breeder in South/Central Florida. I'm very interested in the breed and have started researching. My family has owned cattle all my life and I have never seen a Dexter and are curious why they're not popular around here. Anyone with info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Marshall]

Thanks for the info. I'm really not interested in starting a herd of Dexters. I would like a couple to keep on 5 acres for the kids. We have enough trouble making a profit with our Beefmasters. From what I've read, they're docile and hearty. I really would like to see them up close and talk with some breeeders. Thanks again for the info...

 

[TxCoUnTrYbOy]

i raised one last year for my FFA project. ive never seen cattle so easy to work with and train. very gentle. he is in a petting zoo now. from what i have heard though, you get almost as much meat from a dexter as a full size steer. but for kids, they are definately a good way to go. they are funny animals too. look like buffalo, sound like dinosaurs from jurrasic park, and run like the fat rhino from Jumanji. the only times he ever hurt me was from being clumsy and stepping on my feet. he was about 1 1/2 years old and about 700 pounds. funny because now my bull is that heavy and he isnt half as old as the dexter. ive seen full grown dexter bulls that have never been worked with that you could go up to and ride. its best friend was a goat that was in the pasture with it. at the petting zoo my steer is best friends with a baby foal. they are never more than a few feet apart

 

[dun]

To get the same amount of meat the beef steer would have to be butchered very, very young, or the Dexter would have to have a 100% yield.

dun

i raised one last year for my FFA project. ive never seen cattle so easy to work with and train. very gentle. he is in a petting zoo now. from what i have heard though, you get almost as much meat from a dexter as a full size steer. but for kids, they are definately a good way to go. they are funny animals too. look like buffalo, sound like dinosaurs from jurrasic park, and run like the fat rhino from Jumanji. the only times he ever hurt me was from being clumsy and stepping on my feet. he was about 1 1/2 years old and about 700 pounds. funny because now my bull is that heavy and he isnt half as old as the dexter. ive seen full grown dexter bulls that have never been worked with that you could go up to and ride. its best friend was a goat that was in the pasture with it. at the petting zoo my steer is best friends with a baby foal. they are never more than a few feet apart

 

[la4angus]

{quoteyou get almost as much meat from a dexter as a full size steer.}quote

Believe that if you want to. A full size steer at 1250 lb dressing
63%=787 lb carcass. A real big DEXTER won't hardley weigh that much live.

 

[Anonymous]

I just purchased a Dexter bull about 4 months ago. I found the person selling him on the Dexter bulletin board. My bull was used as a 4-H project last year. He is so calm and gental to be around that I had to go out and purchase a Dexter cow. The cow that I have has been used part-time as a milk cow. From what I have gathered several Dexter owners milk them when they have a calf on them. They hold the calf off at night, milk in the am and turn the calf out with the cow for the day. My cow is about 45 inches tall, I have not weighted her yet but would guess her to be about 750lb. My bull that is a yearling weights about 500lb he is only 40 inches tall at this time.

What they say about not being picky eaters seems to be true with mine. They also eat less. I was haying my bull when I first got him and he was being feed 2 flakes of grass has a day. He was picking up weight on that. I would say the flakes weight about 4-5lbs.